Greetings from Worcester Mass

[SkinFlayer]

So, just thought I'd add a quick intro here. As mentioned, I'm in Worcester Mass. Currently I am a grad student in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology at WPI. I also work as a Bioinformaticist/Research Assistant on a large exome sequencing project at UMass Med School. While I'm not involved in the experimental aspects of sequencing, I know that we use the Illumina platform. Personally I work with BWA, SamTools, Picard, VCFTools, FastQC, and GATK. That list will likely expand rather significantly as time goes on.

Jason Kost

[pbluescript]

Anyone else a little wary about greetings coming from someone named SkinFlayer? Is it just me?

[SkinFlayer]

Anyone else a little wary about greetings coming from someone named SkinFlayer? Is it just me?

Okay, now I realize that this is not a forum for sociological issues or experiments, but this just bugs the crap out of me. To be honest, when I was creating my account I contemplated not using my usual screen name, this being a reasonably professional community. But then I figured, hey, these people are all reasonable scientists, and besides, what difference does a display name make anyway? Apparently I was mistaken in that assumption, and some people are simply unable to look beyond such trivialities as the name I use in forums or the fact that I have long hair, earrings, tattoos, or that I dress in all black. To the best of my knowledge, the actual content of my greeting contained nothing outlandish.

And again, while I had hoped that such things would not be an issue in a forum of this nature, there is a degree of method to my madness. It serves as something of a filter for me, because frankly, I have no interest in interacting with anyone unable to look beyond all of the superficial facets of my existence to the actual content underneath. Regardless of context; whether personally or professionally. My work speaks for itself, and that's always been enough for anyone.

Anywho, I apologize for the ridiculous tangent.

Jason Kost

[nilshomer]

Not that bad of a tangent, just wondering what's the weather like in Worcester?

[pbluescript]

Okay, now I realize that this is not a forum for sociological issues or experiments, but this just bugs the crap out of me. To be honest, when I was creating my account I contemplated not using my usual screen name, this being a reasonably professional community. But then I figured, hey, these people are all reasonable scientists, and besides, what difference does a display name make anyway? Apparently I was mistaken in that assumption, and some people are simply unable to look beyond such trivialities as the name I use in forums or the fact that I have long hair, earrings, tattoos, or that I dress in all black. To the best of my knowledge, the actual content of my greeting contained nothing outlandish.

And again, while I had hoped that such things would not be an issue in a forum of this nature, there is a degree of method to my madness. It serves as something of a filter for me, because frankly, I have no interest in interacting with anyone unable to look beyond all of the superficial facets of my existence to the actual content underneath. Regardless of context; whether personally or professionally. My work speaks for itself, and that's always been enough for anyone.

Anywho, I apologize for the ridiculous tangent.

Jason Kost

Apparently I touched a nerve, and I apologize.
I honestly do not care what you call yourself and I drew no conclusions about you from your name. Do you think I'm a cloning plasmid?
I don't care if you listen to Cannibal Corpse or Justin Bieber. I don't care if you have a tiny butterfly tattoo on your ankle or a full sleeve of demons. I don't care if you read Twilight or the Necronomicon.
I was just making a joke contrasting the joviality of your post and your screen name.

[SkinFlayer]

Apparently I touched a nerve, and I apologize.
I honestly do not care what you call yourself and I drew no conclusions about you from your name. Do you think I'm a cloning plasmid?
I don't care if you listen to Cannibal Corpse or Justin Bieber. I don't care if you have a tiny butterfly tattoo on your ankle or a full sleeve of demons. I don't care if you read Twilight or the Necronomicon.
I was just making a joke contrasting the joviality of your post and your screen name.

Yeah, sorry about that. I definitely overreacted a bit there. One of those instances of a crappy day in the real world (the city of Worcester apparently decided to raise some money by scheduling street sweeping during classes and ticketing every car parked within about a 3 block radius of WPI) bleeding over into my internet presence.

After I wrote that I figured there was also a good chance that what you originally posted was meant sarcastically/tongue in cheekishly.

Anyway, sorry for the confusion

Jason

[SkinFlayer]

Not that bad of a tangent, just wondering what's the weather like in Worcester?

It was kinda gray and rainy here yesterday, but it appears to be a beautiful day here today. Not that I ever get to experience the nice weather as I'm in a lab 45 hours a week now

Jason

[pbluescript]

Yeah, sorry about that. I definitely overreacted a bit there. One of those instances of a crappy day in the real world (the city of Worcester apparently decided to raise some money by scheduling street sweeping during classes and ticketing every car parked within about a 3 block radius of WPI) bleeding over into my internet presence.

After I wrote that I figured there was also a good chance that what you originally posted was meant sarcastically/tongue in cheekishly.

Anyway, sorry for the confusion

Jason

No problem. So... how about that sequencing? Crazy stuff huh...

[SkinFlayer]

No problem. So... how about that sequencing? Crazy stuff huh...

It sure is. I can't think of a more incredible interplay between Biology/Biochemistry, Mathematics, and Computer Science than that which is involved in going from blood sample all the way through a fully aligned and annotated exome (or genome). Though I have to say that there's a ridiculous amount of information to absorb in order to fully understand the process from beginning to end. It's seriously overwhelming at times...

Jason

[pbluescript]

It sure is. I can't think of a more incredible interplay between Biology/Biochemistry, Mathematics, and Computer Science than that which is involved in going from blood sample all the way through a fully aligned and annotated exome (or genome). Though I have to say that there's a ridiculous amount of information to absorb in order to fully understand the process from beginning to end. It's seriously overwhelming at times...

Jason

It is. I've been working at it for a year and a half and I still learn things almost daily.